GALVESTON -- Procedural problems and unreturned phone calls have hampered efforts to obtain up to $1.4 million in compensation for a man unjustly incarcerated for 18 years, the man's attorney said Tuesday.

Anthony Graves, who was released last month after prosecutors re-examined his case and concluded he was innocent of the 1992 slayings of six members of a Somerville family, will ask for compensation from the State Comptroller's Office, attorney Jimmy Phillips Jr. said.

But his chances of compensation will be much reduced unless the order dismissing the charges against him is changed to include the phrase "actual innocence," Phillips said.

The chance of getting those words added to the dismissal order shrank when Burleson County District Attorney Bill Parham failed to return phone calls so that a hearing could be arranged, Phillips said. Parham could not be reached for comment.

Wrongful imprisonment

Burleson County District Judge Reva Towslee-Corbett dismissed capital murder charges against Graves after Parham and special prosecutor Kelly Siegler found that Graves was innocent in the slaying of Bobbie Davis, 45; her 16-year-old daughter, Nicole; and Davis' four grandchildren, ages 4 to 9, on Aug. 18, 1992.

At the time Graves had been transferred from death row to the Burleson County Jail to await a second trial ordered after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found prosecutorial misconduct in the case.

After the dismissal, the state comptroller's office, which administers the compensation program, told Graves' attorneys that the chances of obtaining $80,000 in compensation for each year of wrongful imprisonment would be higher if the phrase "actual innocence" was included in the dismissal order.

Phillips and attorney Katherine Scardino originally intended to ask the judge to change the wording of the dismissal order and were told that Parham and Siegler had signed affidavits saying Graves was innocent in order to support the request.

Calls not returned

Phillips said he discovered that the judge didn't have the authority to change the dismissal order on her own. Parham, however, could ask her to change the wording by saying that his original intention was that the dismissal order include the words "actual innocence," Phillips said.

The judge said in a conference call with Phillips and Parham last week she would schedule a hearing this week if the legal paperwork was filed, Phillips said. Phillips said he called Parham to work out the details, but Parham never returned his calls. As a result, Phillips never filed the documents.

"I could never get back in touch with him to confirm for him to agree with that," Phillips said. As of Tuesday, Parham had still not returned Phillips' call, he said, although it's possible the problem still could be worked out.

"If he would call me up and say, 'I agree with going with a joint motion,' that would be fine," Phillips said.

Parham said that if the comptroller's office decides Graves is ineligible for compensation, he could ask Gov. Rick Perry for a pardon. As a last resort, Graves could file a lawsuit seeking compensation, he said.